Jarl: Texas deer-release policy must be re-examined

Published 5:15 pm, Thursday, July 30, 2015

Wild white-tailed deer are a multi-billion dollar industry in this country, and captive shooting and breeding pose grave risks to their population.

Wild white-tailed deer are a multi-billion dollar industry in this country, and captive shooting and breeding pose grave risks to their population.

Photo: Photographer: Les Tompkins

Jarl: Texas deer-release policy must be re-examined

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A recent case of chronic wasting disease found on a captive deer farm in Medina County is the latest incident to highlight the risks that the captive shooting and breeding industries pose to our wild deer herd. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission held a special meeting July 16 to address potential next steps, and is working diligently with the Texas Animal Health Commission to address an issue that could have serious long-term impacts on native Texas deer.

Chronic wasting disease, or CWD - a fatal, insidious disease that infects deer, elk and other cervids - was found in wild mule deer in Texas a few years ago. There is no vaccine, treatment, cure or reliable live test for the disease. Similar to mad-cow disease, CWD is caused by prions - abnormal proteins transmitted through saliva, urine and other bodily fluids - that can survive in the soil and continue infecting new deer for years.

It's no secret that captive breeding facilities are a hotbed for diseases such as CWD. Breeders purposefully stock deer, elk and other cervids (members of the deer family) at stress-inducing densities and frequently transport and liberate live animals - including so-called "shooter bucks" - throughout the state. Although Texas bans importing live deer, transporting potentially infected animals even between in-state ranches can easily spread the disease to new areas. "Buck fever" - the desire for abnormally large trophy racks - promotes canned shooting and has created incentives to encourage illegal smuggling of deer into the state.

Despite the best efforts of the Texas Park and Wildlife Department and TAHC, the current standards to safeguard against the spread of chronic wasting disease among breeder deer and wild deer are clearly not working. Unlike other states, Texas deer breeders are allowed to liberate captive-bred deer back into the wild. This flies in the face of common-sense principles of disease control.

Not only do deer breeders privatize this resource for their own personal profit, they're placing the rest of our wildlife in danger and dumping the costs of cleanup onto all Texans in the process. This unique allowance to hold deer in captivity and then release them into the wild is highly problematic. Although TPWD issued a temporary suspension of this activity "pending further review," it's urgent that a permanent solution is sought.

The infected Medina County deer was born on the ranch property - meaning it could only have become infected on that ranch. Knowing that CWD prions can survive in the soil for years, this land is now potentially hazardous to any other CWD-susceptible cervid. The typical reaction to a case of CWD found on a captive farm in other states has been to euthanize every single animal on the property for testing. Unfortunately, even if all the deer on that farm are slaughtered and test negative for CWD, there's still a chance that future animals could become infected through environmental contamination. That's what separates CWD from other diseases, and why this case must be taken seriously.

Furthermore, because the infected farm transported deer to 147 ranches across the state, multiple farms may now be subjected to a mass slaughter of their animals. This astonishing number doesn't even include the neighboring ranches that may also be affected by a quarantine and culling of their animals for testing.

This single case of chronic wasting disease emphasizes the urgent need for more stringent testing requirements, and the necessity to limit the movement of these CWD-susceptible animals. Wild white-tailed deer are a multi-billion dollar industry in this country, and captive shooting and breeding pose grave risks to their populations.

Rather than relax regulations on these ranches - as the deer breeding industries have strived to do for years - it has never been clearer that additional regulations are imperative.

Jarl is Texas state director for the Humane Society of the United States.